10 Foods That Will Boost Your Immune System

If you’re looking for ways to keep winter colds and the flu away, your answer may be as close as your grocery store. If you eat certain foods, you may be able to help your immune system stay strong to fight these infections.

Eating different kinds of foods is very important to make sure you get all the vitamins your body needs.

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Citrus Fruits

Many people try taking vitamin C once they have a cold. But vitamin C can stop you from getting sick in the first place, by making white blood cells, which help fight infection.

Some citrus fruits you can try are grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, lemons, limes, and clementines.

Make sure to take vitamin C every day, because your body doesn’t store it. Since there are so many citrus fruits to choose from, it’s easy to have some with every meal.

Red Bell Peppers

Red bell peppers have double the amount of vitamin C as citrus fruits. They also have a lot of beta carotene, which keeps your eyes and skin healthy, while vitamin C keeps healthy skin.

Broccoli

Another vegetable with a lot of vitamins and minerals is broccoli. Broccoli is full of vitamins A, C, and E, and also a lot of antioxidants, which makes it one of the healthiest vegetables you can find. The best way to eat it is to cook it very little or not at all, to keep in as many vitamins as possible.

Garlic

Garlic is used in foods all around the world. It adds flavor to food and is very helpful to your health. It’s been known to fight infections for many years.

Ginger

Like vitamin C, ginger is something people start using after they have a cold. What people don’t know is that ginger can actually stop you from getting a cold too.

Spinach

Spinach is another vegetable that’s full of vitamin C, which helps the body fight infection. Like with broccoli, its best to cook the spinach as little as you can, to make sure the nutrients are kept inside. This will add to its vitamin A and take away oxalic acid.

Yogurt

To make sure that the yogurt you’re buying will help stop you from getting sick, look for ones that say “live and active cultures” on the label. These cultures can help your body fight sicknesses. Yogurts can also have a lot of vitamin D, so look out for those brands.

Turmeric

Turmeric is a yellow, bitter spice that’s used in a lot of curries. It has been used to keep down swelling in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis for many years. Also, it’s just become known that the curcumin that gives turmeric its color can help with muscles hurt from exercise.

Poultry

Chicken soup doesn’t only make you feel good once you’re sick, but it can also keep you from getting sick. Poultry, like chicken and turkey, has a lot of vitamin B-6. Just 100 grams of light turkey or chicken meat has 40-50 percent of the B-6 you should have every day.

Papaya

Another fruit full of vitamin C is papaya. One papaya has 224 percent of the vitamin C you should have in a day. Papaya has papain, a digestive enzyme which keeps down swelling in the body. It also has potassium, B vitamins, and folate which are good for your health.